My name is Krysta and I just got engaged on July 5 on our 10 year anniversary. We are really excited and plan to have a wedding in Mexico in early 2016. I have absolutely no idea where to start or what to do. We have never travelled before (I know...) besides by vehicle so we are extra newbies! I hope that we can figure this out with the help of this blog and everyone on it !

More to come...

YAY

Help! I don't know what I need to be doing... there are mentions of reaching a certain number of posts..

Hi! Congrats!! My fiancé and I are planning a summer 2015 wedding and next year we will be getting married on our 10th year anniversary as well!

I am on the same boat as you! I have a friend who just got married at Playa del Carmen in November and she has been really helpful. She told me to look at professional wedding photos from there to help decide on the location which I did and now I am a step closer. We have a date; 8/8/15 and looking into the Grand Porto but still do not know where we want our venue. The place where I want to have the ceremony is far away from the venue. I am just so confused.

Congrats and welcome to BDW! You will definitely find all the tips and advice here that will help you on your planning journey.

Firstly I would strongly recommend finding a travel agent! There are a few here that brides in canada recommend so you can ask, or if you know one already, get connected with them. If you don't know where you want to go, start looking around on the internet at travel sites and read about all the different resorts, just to get an idea. There are a ton! Set some parameters - big, small, how many guests, kids or no kids, close to a city, or a quieter location? Get a couple of resorts in mind then sit down with the travel agent. They will help you with more details on whether any of those resorts will work with what you're looking for, and they may also be able to get you preliminary pricing, or at least an idea of what it will cost. You're very early in the game so pricing may not be available for some time yet. Generally about a year out will be your most accurate. Some agents will get pricing a bit further out than a year. A few words of warning. I'm assuming by early you mean January or February, which is winter time. A peak travel time for sun destinations so your pricing will be higher. As well, resorts sell out more quickly at that time of the year.

You need to think about a budget. Get one in mind or numbers to work with. Do you want an outside photographer? A videographer? What does the resort charge for outside vendors? Some of them have vendor fees of upwards of $800 or $1000, which will likely be over and above your costs. Soem photographers I've heard will help out with the resort vendor fee, but definitely not all. Do you want to be married right on the beach? Or away from the beach? Your colours, what kind of flowers. Do you want to pay the resort prices, or look for off site vendors for that? Again, it could incur an additional cost.

Be prepared to be a little bit flexible in the beginning until you have details worked out in terms of your resort and your date. As well, as much as you think everybody that you know and love is going to be thrilled to attend your wedding, they won't and most brides here have seen their guest numbers be lower than originally anticipated. For various reasons, some people just will not be able to travel, or won't want to travel. It's nothing personal so as much as it will be disappointing, the important thing to remember as you go through your planning is that you're marrying your best friend in a beautiful tropical location and that's what counts!

Finally, everyone here is wonderfully supportive and very ready and willing to pass on what they've learned, as well as suggestions and tips that will help you out. Check out the resort reviews here and see what past brides have said about their experiences. Same with the vendor reviews. And read. Read as much as you can on this site. Yes - you need to reach 150 posts before you'll be able to see attachments. Find forums that interest you and post comments. You'll get there quicker than you think!